Baby Falls Seven Stories
Location: Destin, Florida Date: August 7, 1993 Story On August 7, 1993, Velmarie Burton drove her three children, 7-year-old Drew, 3-year-old Ann Claire, and 2-year-old Hayes, their 15-year-old babysitter, Hope Childs, and Drew's friend, Payton, eight hours from their home in Mississippi to Destin, Florida. She expected the annual vacation to be restful and uneventful, but this time it was not meant to be. "I look forward to coming to Destin every year. It's my healing time, my time to relax and don't worry about anything," said Velmarie. They checked into their condo and Velmarie told them to rest and then they'd get up and hit the beach in the morning. Shortly after 6am the next morning, Drew and Payton woke up. Velmarie and the others were still asleep. "We got up and were really excited to go to the beach, walk around, swim, and everything else," said Drew. He and Payton got their towels and started talking as they went out. They couldn't lock the deadbolt so they just shut the door and went off to the beach. Then Hayes opened it and went out. Around 7am tourist Steve Hartsfield was on his way out and saw Hayes alone. "I went to the child and assumed there was someone watching him so I went about my business," said Steve. Hayes climbed on top of a cart. He was trying to reach the top of a wall that lined the balcony. Ann Claire then woke up and went looking for him. "I looked everywhere for him," she said. He was nowhere in sight. Then she found him outside, the cart he was standing on rolled, and he fell off the balcony onto the pavement below. "It was scary to see him fall," said Ann Claire. Steve, who was carrying a bag, returned to the condo and saw Hayes lying on the pavement. "I knew exactly where he came from. He had a trickle of blood coming out of his mouth. I thought he was just a bag of bones. I would dare not move him." He checked for a pulse and couldn't get one. He thought that Hayes was dead. Someone called 911 and explained to the dispatcher about the situation. A Destin fire rescue engine company headed to the scene including EMT Pete Dickerson. He felt that Hayes was dead and there wouldn't been a whole lot they could do for him. Steve's brother-in-law, Scott Gallo, came to help. Steve told him to hit the seventh floor and find Velmarie. Finally, he reached her condo and knocked on the door, waking her. "I could tell as I jumped out of bed that this was not somebody just knocking to come visit. Something was wrong," said Velmarie. Scott explained to her what happened, she looked over the balcony wall, and saw Hayes lying on the ground. She ran downstairs with her heart pounding fast. She cried as she looked at him. He wasn't moving at all. She ran back upstairs and woke Hope so she could look after Drew and Ann Claire. She looked over the balcony wall herself and felt like crying. "I watched Hayes when he was a baby, and he just kind of grew into my life. I looked over and I saw him there, helpless. I couldn't help him. I couldn't do anything for him," she said. The first help arrived within 10 minutes of Hayes' fall. Dickerson checked for a pulse and he had one and was breathing. "We suspected major internal trauma or head trauma or both. The future didn't look very bright" "He fell eight stories and I was thinking if he's alive, I may be faced with making a decision of 'Do I want to donate my son's organs?'" said Velmarie. An Okaloosa County Advanced Life Support Unit also responded including paramedic Billy Bush "He had a diaper and a T-shirt on and the diaper practically exploded on impact. There was an area probably about four feet around that was just fragments of the diaper," said Bush. The paramedics put Hayes into the ambulance, Velmarie went with him, and as that happened, she thought she heard a weak, faint, muffled cry and her heart leaped. Even though he was crying, she felt that he was brain dead. Hayes was taken to Destin Hospital where emergency nurse Mira Sneed was among those who treated him. They expected him to be pronounced dead on arrival, but all his vital signs were normal. He was crying. The doctors took him to the CAT scan and scanned his body. A doctor went to Velmarie and she was like, "What are you about to tell me?". He told her that Hayes was fine and he couldn't find anything wrong with him, but he couldn't explain it. Amazingly he suffered only scrapes and bruises. His father, Greg, left work to fly the 500 miles to be with him as soon as he was notified. "I was told that Hayes had fallen eight floors. I was so glad to see him alive and in one piece," said Greg. That night some of the rescuers came by to see how Hayes was doing. It looked like he just fell off his bike. Velmarie and her family became friends with Steve and Scott. All Scott could think of was when Hayes fell, his diaper filled with air, cushioned his fall, and exploded on impact. Steve felt that there is no way that Hayes would be alive today if forgotten. "Angels saved me," said Hayes. His family is grateful to everyone for what they did. Greg considers himself lucky to be able to be with him. Category:1993 Category:Florida Category:Falls Category:Miracle Rescues